


Here

by coldwatereyes



Category: Daredevil (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Cancer, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-15
Updated: 2014-01-15
Packaged: 2018-01-08 21:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1137632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coldwatereyes/pseuds/coldwatereyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It might have been Foggy in the hospital bed, but that was only because Matt never allowed himself to stay in one for long.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here

Foggy slept for what felt like forever—afternoon slipping into evening. The chemotherapy was wracking his body, and he felt he was asleep more than he was awake nowadays.

When he woke, Matt was slouched into the chair that had become a second home to him. His slim glasses had slipped down his nose revealing his eyes closed in sleep.

“Damn it, Matty.” Foggy muttered, letting out a sigh.

In the quiet, though, Foggy was better able to take note of what was happening on the Daredevil front. There was a bruise to Matt’s right temple, from a solid right hook. His lower lip was split and swollen on the left side. He’d clearly gotten into a fight with someone who liked to use their fists.

His hands were wrapped in bandages, blood seeping through. His left thumb looked bruised—possibly broken.

More distressingly, Matt’s body language seemed to indicate bruising to his torso. His hissed breaths hinted at broken ribs.

Clearly he’d had a hell of a fight before coming by.

It might have been Foggy in the hospital bed, but that was only because Matt never allowed himself to stay in one for long. Sometimes he forgot how ultimately fragile Matt was.

Whenever Foggy voiced his concerns Matt just waved it off, smiling that damn charming grin.

“Foggy, I’m fine. It’s all part of the job. I’m not here for me—I’m here for you.”

But it wasn’t just part of the job. With Foggy in the hospital, Matt had been doing everything in overdrive. He had more work at the office; he was up later as Daredevil. He was moving all across New York City-- fighting crime and trying his best to be at the hospital whenever he could. Foggy could only imagine how little he was sleeping.

As the quiet stretched, Foggy took the time to notice other things about Matt. His strong jaw (courtesy of one Fightin’ Jack Murdock)—the light scruff he’d let grow on his chin. The interlinking of his bandaged fingers. The lines of his suit contrasted with the muss of his hair.

“Foggy, just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I can’t tell when someone’s staring at me.”

Foggy jolted in the bed, his eyes diverting quickly.

Matt shifted in his seat, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

Foggy shrugged. “You looked like you needed the sleep I guess.”

“Sleep is for the dead. And we’re both still here, right?”

There was a sinking in Foggy’s stomach. 

Yeah, we’re both still here. For now, at least.

He pulled together a tight smile and nodded. Matt noticed the rigidness to Foggy’s posture and grimaced at his own lack of tact before laying glasses on the side table and rubbing at his eyes. The exhaustion was even more evident then—the dark circles standing out against his pale skin.

“Matt, you’re running yourself ragged. How long are you planning to do this?”

Matt breathed deeply, wincing. 

“Planning to do what, exactly?”

“You can’t be a lawyer by day, a vigilante by night, and keep watch over me too. Go home. Get some sleep. I’ll still be here.”

Matt smiled lightly, his swollen lip just barely twitching. “Come on, Foggy, you know I can’t do that.”

Foggy was adamant. “Yes, you can. And you need to. I feel like you’re deteriorating faster than me, Matty. Something’s gotta give, you know?”

“I can’t just leave you here. Alone. I can’t… I have to watch over you. I’ve lost too many people, Foggy. I can’t lose you too. So I have to be here… just to make sure you are too.” He paused. “I just have to make sure you’re here too.”

Foggy stayed silent as Matt scooted his chair closer to the bed.

“What happened before you came?” Foggy asked as the silence dredged on uncomfortably.

“Daredevil stuff.” Matt said lightly.

“Well, clearly.” 

“It’s nothing I can’t handle, Foggy. I’ve been doing it for years. I can’t just stop because you’re… here.” His voice trailed off as his bandaged fingers knotted together once again.

“You know it’s not that I want your life to stop going just because mine is on pause. But… you’re being so much more reckless now. You know you are.”

Foggy paused, his eyes darting upwards.

“And sometimes…. Sometimes it seems like you don’t think I’ll get better. You’re so afraid of losing me, so afraid of this cancer that you’re just. Act like you’ve already lost me. Your actions seem like those of a grieving man.” His eyes settled back on Matt’s.

“I need you, Matt. I know it’s too much to ask but I need you to believe I’ll pull through this. I need you to believe in me. I do enough doubting on my own.”

Matt’s hand slammed down on his chair’s wooden armrest. More blood seeped through the bandage. “You’re right, damnit, I know you’re right. I’ve lost so much I just… want to prepare if anything…”

He trailed off, not even noticing the blood. “I can’t leave you here alone though, Foggy, I can’t. When I can be here, I need to be here.”

“Well I can’t have you sleeping in a chair for god knows how long, Matty.”

Mat paused, licking his lips before looking up. 

“I don’t have to sleep in the chair.”

Foggy laughed. “What, you want to switch places with me?”

“Who said anything about switching places? That bed looks like it could fit two. Especially now that you’re skin and bones after the chemo.”

Foggy knitted his brows while Matt simply attempted a smile around his swollen lip again.

“Come on, surely this is a compromise we can agree on. I sleep comfortably knowing you’re here and you sleep comfortably knowing that I’m… sleeping comfortably.”

“Is this the only way you’re going to listen to me?” Foggy asked dryly, moving slightly under the covers.

“You know it is.”

“You always get what you want don’t you, pretty boy.” Foggy rolled his eyes.

“Well come on, it’s nearly midnight. I’m sure you’ve got an early day tomorrow.” As he said it, Foggy nudged himself to the left side of the bed.

Matt stared for a minute, a smile reaching his eyes where it couldn’t quite muster on his lips. He slipped off his jacket and tie and laid them in the chair, kicked off his shoes and set them beneath. Then he climbed into the bed beside Foggy.

“Ah, yes. This is much more comfortable than the chair.” He murmured, as he lazily draped his arm over Foggy’s side. “Why didn’t we think of this before?”

Matt’s breath was hot against Foggy’s ear as Foggy smiled and shook his head.

“I’m pretty sure it’s against hospital protocol.”

“And sense when do we follow protocol?” Matt huffed out a breath of laughter before placing a small kiss on the curve of Foggy’s ear.

Matt could hear the loud thrum of Foggy’s heart, the reminder that he was still breathing, still there. And after a while it was as though his and Foggy’s hearts beat in tandem, lulling them both to sleep.


End file.
